


I'll Find You

by Pyrria



Series: SangChengber 2020 [14]
Category: Infinity (Tabletop RPG), 陈情令 | The Untamed (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - INFINITY, Alternate Universe - Space Opera, Ambiguous/Open Ending, Combat Pilot Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín, Emotional Hurt, First Kiss, If You Squint - Freeform, M/M, Not Beta Read, Reincarnation, Research Scientist Niè Huáisāng, Vignette, Why Can't I Remember The Summary?, sangchengber's sangcheng month 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-16
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 944
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28105728
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pyrria/pseuds/Pyrria
Summary: The klaxons are more effective than any stim. Jiang Cheng bolts upright from his bunk and rolls off, boots hitting the floor with a dull echo. He laces them in a practiced movement, shrugging into his flight suit the rest of the way. He pauses, as he always does, before swiping the two standard-issue Nightmare stims into his chest pocket. He’s never used them; he hopes he never will.
Relationships: Jiāng Chéng | Jiāng Wǎnyín/Niè Huáisāng
Series: SangChengber 2020 [14]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2037268
Comments: 6
Kudos: 22





	I'll Find You

**Author's Note:**

> Day Fourteen - First Kiss

Jiang Cheng knows he is dreaming. The signs are all there: he has never had hair that reached his waist; he has never worn robes that fluttered like a cape when he turned; he has never seen a lotus lake, nor stood on a pier; he has never heard his name called with such tenderness.

But try as he might, he can’t wake up. Worse, the person calling for him is just out of sight. He barely catches a glimpse of dark green, maybe silver, and the image is fogged over. He feels an unfamiliar smile on his face and his chest aches - 

**_PILOTS TO YOUR STATIONS_ **

The klaxons are more effective than any stim. Jiang Cheng bolts upright from his bunk and rolls off, boots hitting the floor with a dull echo. He laces them in a practiced movement, shrugging into his flight suit the rest of the way. He pauses, as he always does, before swiping the two standard-issue Nightmare stims into his chest pocket. He’s never used them; he hopes he never will.

The hallways of the asteroid are organized chaos. Civilians are hustling towards their designated Fenghuang, military personnel to their TAGs or Shi Jins. His personal AR is lit up with data, his geist relaying the current status of his gunship, his wing’s state of readiness, the initial telemetry on the enemy.

Jiang Cheng stops just inside the hangar door to take in the sight of Yu Jing’s might. They are far on the edges of the Human Sphere and still the StateEmpire provides. Two generation old technology and recycled designs, but it’s better than nothing. He takes another step and freezes at the information that scrolls across his eyes.

**_Enemy Identified: Combined Army Units_ **

He hisses through his teeth. The stats roll by and he has to take a moment to center himself. The asteroid is a research station and yes, it’s on the edge of claimed space but - 

That means this is an incursion and -

He has to be sure. 

His geist tells him that Nie Huaisang is moving, his trajectory is towards the civilian escape vehicles and he breathes again until - 

“Jiang Cheng!”

“What-?”

The research scientist shifts from foot to foot. For once, he wears his emotions plainly on his face and Jiang Cheng feels a familiar ache.

“You should be on the -”

“I had to see you. I had to...Jiang Cheng, I-”

He crosses the distance between them and his hands flutter. The pilot cannot ever remember seeing him without a datapad or a fan in them. He looks so _small_ and before he can think about it, Jiang Cheng pulls Nie Huaisang into a hug.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. You’re on Transport Three, right? I know the pilot, ve is one of the best. You have to go, you have to be on that ship-”

“No, not yet, I have to, I haven’t _told_ you-”

“Huaisang, A-Sang, there’s no TIME-”

“I want to kiss you!”

Jiang Cheng blinks.

“I want...in case, I just-”

“Okay.” Jiang Cheng nods. “Okay, yeah. Let’s...let’s do that.”

He loosens his grip on Nie Huaisang and waits, nerves on fire. He wants this, has wanted this, so badly, since he arrived on the asteroid, since he met the man, since he got roped into carrying his supplies and keeping him company and eating dinner with him and -

Nie Huaisang rises up on his toes and presses their lips together. It’s soft and gentle and chaste. 

It’s not _enough_.

“Jiang Cheng-”

He thinks he growls. He crashes back into Nie Huaisang and this kiss is teeth and tongue and lips. He pours all he has into it, all the emotions he’s never been able to say out loud, all the desire he’s ever had, all the things they could have been. Jiang Cheng’s arms wrap around Nie Huaisang’s waist and he lifts him, carries him out of the hangar, back into the corridor, sets him down as they finally come up for air.

“I love you, but you have to GO.” The pilot turns the scientist by the shoulders, pushes him in the direction of the civilian transport hangar.

“I’ll find you!” Nie Huaisang is swept back into the crowd, but he twists around for a final desperate look. “I’ll get your Cube!”

“Sure!” Jiang Cheng waits until he’s vanished into the sea of humanity and then he’s running full-tilt for his gunship. He dons the mobile fighter like a second skin, geist smoothing the interface between machine and man. The ZQ-88 lifts smoothly into the lowered gravity as the hangar doors open and Jiang Cheng and his wing glide out to meet the enemy. They all know the likely outcome. They all have a final command in their ships. No one captured. No one subjugated. Scavengers will clean the wreckage and the StateEmpire will ransom their Cubes. They will be resurrected to serve again.

Jiang Cheng keeps silent. His Cube has never worked, never recorded his life and memories. He has no second act in front of him. If he cannot eliminate the enemy, he will make sure he is reduced to component atoms. There will be nothing for Nie Huaisang to find. 

The Combined Army’s ships are as alien as they are. They drift closer, each side sizing the other up and, just before the shooting starts, for the first time ever, Jiang Cheng takes a dose of Nightmare. His pupils dilate and his breathing gets ragged as the drug courses through his system. He intends to live up to the name. 

This time, he has someone he needs to return to.

**Author's Note:**

> Here I come, with another AU! This one is set in a far far future, where mankind has splintered into factions, gone to space, encountered aliens, and not always won the battle. You don't really need to know the context to get the point of the story, I hope. (I'm also taking liberties with Cube technology; it should never malfunction like this, but JC's got a special kind of luck. Poor guy.)
> 
> I leave it up to you if JC makes it back. He's certainly got incentive!
> 
> A few links:  
> [INFINITY Wiki Page (unofficial)](https://human-sphere.com/index.php?title=Main_Page)  
> [The faction JC and NHS belong to](https://human-sphere.com/index.php?title=Yu_Jing)  
> [The rulebooks for the RPG version](https://www.modiphius.net/collections/infinity)  
> [The tabletop wargame it's based on](https://www.infinitythegame.com/)
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me! We're almost halfway through - yikes! 
> 
> You may, as always, yell at me on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/PyrriaWrites).


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